A 36-YEAR-OLD North Wales woman, whose only previous marathon experience was as a fun runner six years ago, is heading for the Olympics after an astonishing run in London yesterday.

Tracey Morris was the first British woman to finish the London Marathon and was today expected to be named in the British squad for Athens.

But before the race she was just another runner - like Barmouth-born Charlie Brooks from EastEnders and Welsh soccer manager Mark Hughes - out for the enjoyment of it. Mrs Morris - nee Jones - ran for Wales as a teenager but only took up running seriously again 18 months ago.

The runner, who grew up in Holyhead, finished the event in a time of 2hrs 33min 51secs - over an hour quicker than her previous attempt and four minutes within the Olympic qualifying time.

The result means she should be picked for the Olympic marathon squad alongside top athletes Paula Radcliffe and Liz Yelling.

After finishing 10th overall, she said: "I'm absolutely delighted. I don't know if I've got a place in the team for Athens, but I hope so.

"I didn't know I'd qualified when I crossed the line. I was just pleased with my time."

She was a captain of the Welsh girl's running team in the 1980s, but drifted away from the sport and only took it up seriously again 18 months ago.

She is now a member of the Leeds-based Valley Striders team.

In November last year, she entered a 10km race in Flint, not realising beforehand that it was the Welsh championships - and won the event.

Paul Brookes, secretary of the North Wales Athletic Board, said: "She turned up to the Welsh Championship in Mold last year, won, and then came up to me and said she wanted to run for Wales. I snatched her hand off.

"She ran for Wales last year in Leeds when I was national team manager and just wiped the floor with everybody. She was up against girls who'd run for Britain, so we knew we had something special."

Her previous attempt at the London Marathon, six years ago, was as a charity runner alongside the fun runners in costumes.

This year the Welsh Champion-ship marathon race was incorporated into the London event, making her the Welsh champion as well as winning the UK title.

The former Holyhead High School pupil left North Wales to study to become an optician in Bradford before moving to Leeds, where she has been based since 1990.

She still works as a contact lens fitter at the Leeds branch of Dolland & Aitchison.